A high school basketball coach has been fired from her job in Idaho over a Facebook picture despite a campaign by parents of the girls on her team to keep her.

Laraine Cook was dismissed from Pocatello High School on Tuesday, after a photo of the coach being touched on the chest by her boyfriend appeared online.

Her boyfriend, Tom Harrison, who works at the same school, was reprimanded but has been allowed to stay on as a football coach.

Dismissed: Basket ball coach Laraine Cook has been fired after a vacation photo showed her boyfriend touching her chest

A district school spokesman said Miss Cook's dismissal was a personnel decision and wouldn't confirm why the coach, who had led her team to a third-place finish in the state tournament, had been let go, Fox News reported.

A source close to the coach told KPVI 6 Miss Cook was fired because of a photo, and Mr Harrison told the news station that he couldn't comment but it 'had its facts straight'.

Before she was dismissed the mother-of-two had posted pictures of her vacation on Facebook. One of the pictures showed her fiancé Mr Harrison, who features in Idaho's High School Football Hall of Fame, touching her chest.

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The vacation snap was said to have been swiftly removed after it caught the attention of school administrators.

The decision to fire Miss Cook outraged parents who have daughters on her school team.

'Did she make some errors in judgment? Absolutely. Should she lose her job over it? I don't think so,' Dave Reichelt told KPVI 6.

Outrage: Parents of girls coached by Miss Cook tried to make the school overturn its decision

Praise: The school coach was credited with empowering her team by parents who fought for Miss Cook to be kept on

'We believe she's an awesome coach. We think she's a great influence on our daughters,' he said, adding that Miss Cook had empowered his daughter 'not just in basketball but in life itself'.

The young team were told their coach had been dismissed during a meeting on Tuesday. The high school administration said they had fought to keep Miss Cook, but had been overruled by the district office.

Team Cook: Pocatello High School told the basketball team they had pushed to keep Miss Cook